VAG's emission fraud - VW cheats in emission test

This is a discussion on VAG's emission fraud - VW cheats in emission test within The International Automotive Scene, part of the BHP Worldwide category; Wonder what goes on in the minds of the executives who approve such a move. Did they think they can ...

Wonder what goes on in the minds of the executives who approve such a move. Did they think they can get away with it? or the older management (2009) simply thought it would be a problem for a newer management to deal with.

Irrespective of VW being found guilty or not, I fully expect 2 things to happen in the near future
a. More countries will open investigations into VW (esp the Scandinavian countries which are very proactive on pollution)
b. More manufacturers could face investigations - not just in the US, but across a wide spectrum of countries

I suspect this could even be extended to cover Petrol engines - after all what's the guarantee that these haven't been tampered with?

Extremely disappointing actions from a company as large and reputable as VW.

Does this mean that the power figures of the cars will be lower post recall calibration, to comply with the emission norms, or will the fuel efficiency drop?

I am sure there are other companies involved too. Investigation teams need to dig deeper.

It is indeed disappointing that VW has to face this issue. The 2.0l TDI in question was a run away success. It was termed as the long term successor to the 2.2l TDI that was also very successful. And the best bit was, it was designed to be used across the MQB portfolio since its introduction in 2012.

There are 2 variants for this engine. The 8v and the 16v. I think the engine in question is the 8v. I may be wrong here.

The problem with engine/emission re-calibration is that you dont know whether or not the power is going to increase or decrease. Or the fuel efficiency for that matter. The NOx sensor, the EGR and the DPR would have to be reconfigured, or worse, replaced, to refresh the emission norms, which I believe are now Euro-6 from the earlier Euro-5. I feel VW USA should have done better than that.

On average, the cars emit seven times the permitted level of NOx gasses, with the worst car producing 22 times the legal limit. Models from every major motor manufacturer breached the limit when they were evaluated in real-world conditions.
From 1 September, new diesel cars in the EU have had to comply with emissions rules called “Euro 6”. However, carmakers can use a whole range of techniques to ensure that their cars perform far better under test conditions than when driven by ordinary drivers.

Does anybody understand in real technical detail how VW allegedly does this trick?
How does it detect this EPA testing mode and what does it change in the engine performance/parameters so it become compliant?
Jeroen

A sophisticated software algorithm on certain Volkswagen vehicles detects when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on only during the test. The effectiveness of these vehicles' pollution emissions control devices is greatly reduced during all normal driving situations. This results in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory or testing station, but during normal operation, emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at up to 40 times the standard. The software produced by Volkswagen is a "defeat device," as defined by the Clean Air Act

A sophisticated software algorithm on certain Volkswagen vehicles detects when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on only during the test. The effectiveness of these vehicles' pollution emissions control devices is greatly reduced during all normal driving situations. This results in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory or testing station, but during normal operation, emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at up to 40 times the standard. The software produced by Volkswagen is a "defeat device," as defined by the Clean Air Act

Shame on VW to resort to such shady practices. If these are the kind of cheap tricks played by one of the top 3 auto manufacturers in the globe, it puts some serious doubts on credibly of others and EPA might go rampage to test out all cars from all manufacturers.
First of all how could the EPA emission test system be cheated so easily or may be a smart VW engineer who figured out the loop hole in the procedures. Why did it take 6 years for authorities to figure it out? A few days ago it was air bag recall from Honda for cars manufactured almost over a span of a decade and now this. Whats going on?

ARAI is the Indian equivalent of EPA. ALL the vehicles that will be manufactured and sold in India will need "type approval" from ARAI, where certain predefined number of samples are sent to clear the tests.

Once the tests are cleared and vehicles are certified by ARAI, NO deviations are allowed on the vehicle specs. Older gen carburetted engines could be easily tampered with, hence, the ECU / FI became mandatory to make sure tampering with fueling would be difficult.

This VW case is a clear example of willfully fooling the system.

When bodies like NGT talk about banning 10+ year old diesels on blanket basis, ignoring already established processes to weed out polluting vehicles, such dubious and devious means by manufacturers adopted to pip the system simply proves that bodies like NGT are in neanderthal era, and such laws simply wont help clean our environment.

Having said this, I have also seen the other side of the story. Its nice to make a law telling so and so target value must be achieved by so and so year, but no one tells how

I worked for a major automobile technology company about a decade ago. When automobile companies start an engine project, the primary goal is always to meet the emission norms when the engine goes into production, may be 5 years later.

This is staggering news given the sheer audacity of the exercise, the volumes involved and the fact that this is the workhorse 2 litre diesel engine used across VAG. Frankly makes all other corporate 'lies' like the GM ignition switch case, Takata airbag case, Firestone rollover case etc seem small!

Not really. Cheating emissions tests will not cause any direct loss to human life, unlike the Takata airbag issue, tyre bursting of the Explorer and the GM ignition switch issue. With that being said,its also not acceptable by any means.

. Older gen carburetted engines could be easily tampered with, hence, the ECU / FI became mandatory to make sure tampering with fueling would be difficult.

This VW case is a clear example of willfully fooling the system.

I don't think tampering was the reason for ECU and FI. And if anything 'tampering' or fiddling with an electronically controlled engine is a whole lot easier then with a carburettor engine. You don't even need to open up the hood, just plug in a lap top!

I still like to understand the technical details what is happening here before I pass any judgement.

I don't think tampering was the reason for ECU and FI. And if anything 'tampering' or fiddling with an electronically controlled engine is a whole lot easier then with a carburettor engine. You don't even need to open up the hood, just plug in a lap top!

I still like to understand the technical details what is happening here before I pass any judgement.

Jeroen

Hello Jeroen,
I do wish it's as easy as you say it is, may be easy for those who know it and access the tools

But for a carb engine, just turn a few screws, or just use a bigger jet, any roadside mechanic will do that.

The primary reason for switch to FI is emission control.

Even mechanical diesel pumps can be easily tampered to deliver higher quantity. That's why you see overloaded goods vehicles emitting black smoke barely chugging along, because they don't know injecting diesel without necessary quantity of air is counterproductive.

The sheer audacity and scale of this scam is staggering. The other issues referred to, were cases where the manufactured discovered an issue in a production car and did not take steps to address the issue in a timely manner, until it snowballed (Toyota unintended acceleration, airbag issue, faulty switch etc). But in this case, VW intentionally added a cheat device across their entire model range, and kept doing it until discovered by authorities. This puts it in a category of its own.
Even highly respected, global manufacturers are not beyond reproach ?

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Volkswagen AG and Audi AG received today notice from the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board of an investigation related to certain emissions compliance matters. As environmental protection and sustainability are among Volkswagen's strategic corporate objectives, the company takes this matter very seriously and is cooperating with the investigation.

Volkswagen is committed to fixing this issue as soon as possible. We want to assure customers and owners of these models that their automobiles are safe to drive, and we are working to develop a remedy that meets emissions standards and satisfies our loyal and valued customers. Owners of these vehicles do not need to take any action at this time.

Last edited by noopster : 21st September 2015 at 11:28.
Reason: Posted the media release as a quote since it is short